REVscene Automotive Forum - Official "Border Crossing" Thread

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Disick (Post 8350515)

Correct, you're not allowed any amount under 48 hours but usually customs will let you go through. I got 2 myself, told the border guard and she didn't care. And every time I go to BevMo I'm soooooooooo tempted to buy hard liquor because it's so cheap but it's not worth getting caught.

And one other thing; remember to sign up for the free BevMo card, you get further discounts. I picked up some cheap yellow tail for my dad, regular price for a large bottle was like $14, with the card it was like $8. Unreal savings.

By "not allowed", doesn't that just mean you have no tax/duty exemption on the alcoholic beverages as long as you declare it? You'll get taxed big time, so it'll end up being more expensive than buying locally.

Well technically they can tax you but I believe they give you a option to forfeit the wine. Knock on wood but I've bought wine on every trip I go down and customs officers don't seem to be bothered over a wine bottle. Hard liquor is a different story.

Damn, if only the exchange rate improves before Christmas..........

Hovering at 95.5 ish.

Still, free shipping and no taxes makes it worth the time and effort. Plus, I find service so much better south of the border. Maybe it's just me, but I'm getting pretty tired of being treated poorly by businesses up here.

Only a handful of Canadian businesses I deal with on a daily basis, actually care about their customers. Mike, Keith, Jeff, your shop would be one of the good ones.

Anyway......

Quote:

Originally Posted by MG1 (Post 8350637)

Preach, brother, preach!!!!!

I don't like to bring it up amongst people, as I am generally pro US, pro UK (I'm a Brit) and somewhat anti Canada, but yes, yes, yes, service in the US is far superior to Canadian customer service, to the point where I am sometimes disgusted by the lack of customer first attitude up north, it's disgusting!

I find Canadian people think very highly of themselves, giving this image of being super polite, kind, with a go out of the way for you attitude. No, wrong, I find my interaction with Americans way better, with way better service - no wonder I do all my shopping in the states (the fact it's yay cheaper and more convenient is an added bonus

1.5L bottle of yellowtail at walmart in the states is like $9 lol.. once i brought over 3 bottles of wine and they didnt care.. but another time i brought over 1 bottle and they gave me a warning lol...was lucky they didnt tax me.. dat %150 tax on alcohol

Its not that your not allowed to bring liqour its just no tax if your stay for 48 hours.

The tax for hard liqour is 150% and beer is 60%

So for beer even if you get tax its still cheaper than buying locally

bought two bottles of wine at 9 dollar each. pretty sure the duty officers wouldn't want to spend the time to tax you on $18 worth of alcohol..

Quote:

Originally Posted by XplicitLuder (Post 8349918)

Went last Saturday to grab my tires at PR. Never been given so much shit lol went thru nexus and the guy doesn't look at me for a good 6 seconds so I say Ty and keep going and he yells at me to get back here. I've gone thru before were a border agent literally stared at me without a word and I had to ask can I go, and he was like " what are you waiting for ? " lol so that's why I went this time and goddam I got reamed out lol tried explaining and he's like don't give me this bullshit. He just gave me the keys back n told me to keep going. -.-
Posted via RS Mobile

I usually am not the driver to go through Nexus coming home, so I am not the person to wave our Nexus cards on the reader. But this time, it was just me and bf going through Truck Crossing and I was driving, so I took the cards out and waved 'em - I wasn't sure if it worked or not so I waved it a couple times more - drove ahead - the agent yelled and berated me and was like, " Why did you wave it so many times?" I told him the truth that I am not usually the driver and that I had never waved my own card through before - he was the biggest ASS to me, I felt totally embarassed and belittled. Next time, I will just go through reg line or Peach Arch. Bad experience now with Truck Crossing Nexus going home. We prolly got the same guy that hates his job and is just waiting to retire.

Side note: bf has brought over 6 packs once or twice, no probs. Bro has bought over case of Costco Mingler, no probs. Also, cousin lives right on 0 Avenue right by the border and her hubby takes both cars for fill-ups and bring over 6 packs ALL the time, luck of the draw of the border agent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MG1 (Post 8299636)

Well, I just got back from a trip to Blaine which then turned out to be a trip to Bellingham, LOL. I got an e-mail from 24/7 shipping that a package had come in. They hold parcels for up to 7 days. I cannot go for a few days, so today was the only day I could go. Lineups were pretty brutal all day today. It went down to 5/10 minutes heading south at around 7:30 pm. I didn't pay too much attention about getting back. The lineups were an hour and a half heading back into Canada at 8:00 pm. WTF? I hate line ups, so I decided to head down to Ferndale, Wa. Always wanted to go to a Sonic drive in, but never had a chance to. Well, it was a pretty good experience. Pretty good food for cheap. Half price mikshakes after 8 pm and a good dollar menu to boot. It's an old school drive in type of place. I even saw a chick on roller skates serving customers. You drive up to these stalls just like the old A&W drive ins used to be - press button on board and order your stuff.

After wife and I finished eating, we listened to AM 730 to find out the line ups were still over an hour. Fricken hell.......... I punch in casinos into the GPS and Silver Reef comes up. Only 7km away. Not bad, so I go there. It's not a bad casino at all. The first time I went there, the place looked pretty crappy, but this time it was a lot nicer (maybe because it was night time, hee hee). It just happened to be seniors day, LOL. Bonus points for slot play. I hung out till 10:30ish and checked Am 730 again. Still over an hour line up.

Ended up at Wal Mart in Bellingham since it's open 24 hours. At 12:30 border lineups were down to 5 minutes. By the time I got to Peace Arch, five lanes were open with one car in three of the lanes.

Note to self..........going down on a Monday = no damn good. Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down (Karen Carpenter, god bless her soul).

Anyway, yeah, if you've never been to a Sonic, there's one in Ferndale. Take Main Street Exit off I5 and turn right, you'll see it on the left hand side.

Sonic, America's Drive-In | This Is How You Sonic

MG1: Get the Silver Reef Player's Card next time - IIRC you get $5 Match Slot and Table Play plus $5 to spend at the Coffee Bar. Also, once a year (supposed to be on your birthday) you get a free dinner buffet.

Also, free bottle(s) of H20 at any bar, also $5 popcorn shrimp IIRC until like 9-10pm. :)

Oh yes, thanks for the Sonic tip - must try!!

One more thing: what do you usually shop for at Terra Organica? I'm always on the lookout for deals health foods and such - TIA!

went across today to get some gas and the border guard replied to me "get out of my way" after I told him im going to get some gas... lol

Ooohhhh. Silver Reef has deals? I've got their card, but don't go often. I will go next week for sure to check it out. Thanks, BaBiE_Bee.

My wife goes to Terra Organica. I'm not into the healthy stuff. She says it's not cheap. No better than Pro Organica here in Burnaby.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaBiE_Bee (Post 8351483)

I wasn't sure if it worked or not so I waved it a couple times more - drove ahead - the agent yelled and berated me and was like, " Why did you wave it so many times?"

you should have responded :

Why is CBSA so cheap unlike CBP which can afford a screen that shows how many RFID cards were presented :fullofwin:

although im pretty sure if you tried that you would get the rubber glove treatment :moderatorban:

the sign at the gas stn was "Regular 97/ltr"

soo cheap

woohoo got my nexus...! no more stupid long ass lines ups for me and my family

Quote:

Originally Posted by JesseBlue (Post 8352162)

woohoo got my nexus...! no more stupid long ass lines ups for me and my family

your whole family have nexus? everyone needs to have it in order to use the nexus lane.

Bought $16 worth of beer and got dinged $10 going through the Peace Arch today. LOL.

Which parcel services do you guys use at Pt Roberts? Which one has the best operating hours?

watchout. new(er?) boarder guard on nexus lane on Point Roberts canadian entry. CBC guy, seems more uptight

he was there this sunday ~ 1-2PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SSM_DC5 (Post 8352230)

your whole family have nexus? everyone needs to have it in order to use the nexus lane.

yes...everyone...woot...will try it out this long weekend!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kilinim (Post 8352262)

Bought $16 worth of beer and got dinged $10 going through the Peace Arch today. LOL.

Probably still cheaper than what you would have paid here.

Went to pick up an intake I got at around 1:30pm. 2 minutes line up into the states and the same on the way back. CBSA guy asked if I have anything to declare I said yes a $250 intake and he said "That's it?" and just waved me through lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by eddy89 (Post 8351362)

bought two bottles of wine at 9 dollar each. pretty sure the duty officers wouldn't want to spend the time to tax you on $18 worth of alcohol..

You would be surprised.
I got a cow of an officer that played the tax collector and made me pay for the one bottle of wine I bought. Plus she was really rude and power tripping .

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geoc (Post 8353671)

Which parcel services do you guys use at Pt Roberts? Which one has the best operating hours?

I signed up for TSB, gonna give it a try.

One thing I love about having nexus is when you are driving on 99 heading to the border and you have that car that speeds past everyone cutting in and out of lanes, only to get stuck in the long regular line up and you get to drive by slowly in the nexus lane giving them the wave.